Designing gender-inclusive data systems in small-scale fisheries

Sarah J. Harper; Meryl Williams; Danika Kleiber; Mark Axelrod; Sangeeta Mangubhai; Elin Torell; Gonzalo Macho; Kafayat Fakoya; Nikita Gopal; Elena Ojea; Sarah Lawless; Nicole Franz; Maricela de la Torre Castro; Claudia Deeg; Madeleine Gustavsson; Ayodele Oloko; Molly Atkins; Xavier Basurto; Kumi Soejima; Alice Joan Ferrer; Maria del Mar Mancha-Cisneros; Carmen Pedroza; Afrina Choudhury; Philippa J. Cohen; Ben Siegelman; Kirsten Bradford; Amelia Duffy-Tumasz; Sara Fröcklin; Jennifer Gee; Kyoko Kusakabe; Sarah Appiah; Chikondi Manyungwa-Pasani; John Virdin; Sadaf Sadruddin Sutaria; Omitoyin Siyanbola; Cynthia McDougall

doi:10.1007/s13280-025-02250-5

Designing gender-inclusive data systems in small-scale fisheries

Sarah J. Harper^*, Meryl Williams, Danika Kleiber, Mark Axelrod, Sangeeta Mangubhai, Elin Torell, Gonzalo Macho, Kafayat Fakoya, Nikita Gopal, Elena Ojea, Sarah Lawless, Nicole Franz, Maricela de la Torre Castro, Claudia Deeg, Madeleine Gustavsson, Ayodele Oloko, Molly Atkins, Xavier Basurto, Kumi Soejima, Alice Joan FerrerMaria del Mar Mancha-Cisneros, Carmen Pedroza, Afrina Choudhury, Philippa J. Cohen, Ben Siegelman, Kirsten Bradford, Amelia Duffy-Tumasz, Sara Fröcklin, Jennifer Gee, Kyoko Kusakabe, Sarah Appiah, Chikondi Manyungwa-Pasani, John Virdin, Sadaf Sadruddin Sutaria, Omitoyin Siyanbola, Cynthia McDougall

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Gender equality is a ubiquitous national goal, yet sectoral gender data gaps to support this goal persist. These gaps are both structural and sexist, concealing women’s contributions and impeding actions that would strengthen livelihoods and economic development, food security, and environmental sustainability. The small-scale fisheries sector offers a cogent example of this phenomenon. Building on lessons from the Illuminating Hidden Harvests initiative, we identify systemic changes and specific indicators needed to fill these gaps. This requires multiple data streams, many of which come from outside fisheries agencies, e.g., government statistical or census organizations, sourced from responsible agencies across multiple areas—economy and environment, governance and support services, and health and nutrition. Closing gender data gaps requires making the policy case and working across agencies to create an enabling institutional environment. Only then can data reflect and respond to the lives of the ~ 500 million people who depend on small-scale fisheries.

Original language	English
Number of pages	15
Journal	Ambio
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-025-02250-5
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 26 Sept 2025

Keywords

Data systems
Gender equity
Livelihoods
Small-scale fisheries
Sustainable development
Transformation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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https://edepot.wur.nl/702790Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

Harper, S. J., Williams, M., Kleiber, D., Axelrod, M., Mangubhai, S., Torell, E., Macho, G., Fakoya, K., Gopal, N., Ojea, E., Lawless, S., Franz, N., de la Torre Castro, M., Deeg, C., Gustavsson, M., Oloko, A., Atkins, M., Basurto, X., Soejima, K., ... McDougall, C. (2025). Designing gender-inclusive data systems in small-scale fisheries. Ambio. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-025-02250-5

@article{808132ea0ed14e9d8aa69dc90d2b4a8d,

title = "Designing gender-inclusive data systems in small-scale fisheries",

abstract = "Gender equality is a ubiquitous national goal, yet sectoral gender data gaps to support this goal persist. These gaps are both structural and sexist, concealing women{\textquoteright}s contributions and impeding actions that would strengthen livelihoods and economic development, food security, and environmental sustainability. The small-scale fisheries sector offers a cogent example of this phenomenon. Building on lessons from the Illuminating Hidden Harvests initiative, we identify systemic changes and specific indicators needed to fill these gaps. This requires multiple data streams, many of which come from outside fisheries agencies, e.g., government statistical or census organizations, sourced from responsible agencies across multiple areas—economy and environment, governance and support services, and health and nutrition. Closing gender data gaps requires making the policy case and working across agencies to create an enabling institutional environment. Only then can data reflect and respond to the lives of the \textasciitilde{} 500 million people who depend on small-scale fisheries.",

keywords = "Data systems, Gender equity, Livelihoods, Small-scale fisheries, Sustainable development, Transformation",

author = "Harper, \{Sarah J.\} and Meryl Williams and Danika Kleiber and Mark Axelrod and Sangeeta Mangubhai and Elin Torell and Gonzalo Macho and Kafayat Fakoya and Nikita Gopal and Elena Ojea and Sarah Lawless and Nicole Franz and \{de la Torre Castro\}, Maricela and Claudia Deeg and Madeleine Gustavsson and Ayodele Oloko and Molly Atkins and Xavier Basurto and Kumi Soejima and Ferrer, \{Alice Joan\} and \{del Mar Mancha-Cisneros\}, Maria and Carmen Pedroza and Afrina Choudhury and Cohen, \{Philippa J.\} and Ben Siegelman and Kirsten Bradford and Amelia Duffy-Tumasz and Sara Fr{\"o}cklin and Jennifer Gee and Kyoko Kusakabe and Sarah Appiah and Chikondi Manyungwa-Pasani and John Virdin and Sutaria, \{Sadaf Sadruddin\} and Omitoyin Siyanbola and Cynthia McDougall",

year = "2025",

month = sep,

day = "26",

doi = "10.1007/s13280-025-02250-5",

language = "English",

journal = "Ambio",

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Harper, SJ, Williams, M, Kleiber, D, Axelrod, M, Mangubhai, S, Torell, E, Macho, G, Fakoya, K, Gopal, N, Ojea, E, Lawless, S, Franz, N, de la Torre Castro, M, Deeg, C, Gustavsson, M, Oloko, A, Atkins, M, Basurto, X, Soejima, K, Ferrer, AJ, del Mar Mancha-Cisneros, M, Pedroza, C, Choudhury, A, Cohen, PJ, Siegelman, B, Bradford, K, Duffy-Tumasz, A, Fröcklin, S, Gee, J, Kusakabe, K, Appiah, S, Manyungwa-Pasani, C, Virdin, J, Sutaria, SS, Siyanbola, O & McDougall, C 2025, 'Designing gender-inclusive data systems in small-scale fisheries', Ambio. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-025-02250-5

TY - JOUR

T1 - Designing gender-inclusive data systems in small-scale fisheries

AU - Harper, Sarah J.

AU - Williams, Meryl

AU - Kleiber, Danika

AU - Axelrod, Mark

AU - Mangubhai, Sangeeta

AU - Torell, Elin

AU - Macho, Gonzalo

AU - Fakoya, Kafayat

AU - Gopal, Nikita

AU - Ojea, Elena

AU - Lawless, Sarah

AU - Franz, Nicole

AU - de la Torre Castro, Maricela

AU - Deeg, Claudia

AU - Gustavsson, Madeleine

AU - Oloko, Ayodele

AU - Atkins, Molly

AU - Basurto, Xavier

AU - Soejima, Kumi

AU - Ferrer, Alice Joan

AU - del Mar Mancha-Cisneros, Maria

AU - Pedroza, Carmen

AU - Choudhury, Afrina

AU - Cohen, Philippa J.

AU - Siegelman, Ben

AU - Bradford, Kirsten

AU - Duffy-Tumasz, Amelia

AU - Fröcklin, Sara

AU - Gee, Jennifer

AU - Kusakabe, Kyoko

AU - Appiah, Sarah

AU - Manyungwa-Pasani, Chikondi

AU - Virdin, John

AU - Sutaria, Sadaf Sadruddin

AU - Siyanbola, Omitoyin

AU - McDougall, Cynthia

PY - 2025/9/26

Y1 - 2025/9/26

N2 - Gender equality is a ubiquitous national goal, yet sectoral gender data gaps to support this goal persist. These gaps are both structural and sexist, concealing women’s contributions and impeding actions that would strengthen livelihoods and economic development, food security, and environmental sustainability. The small-scale fisheries sector offers a cogent example of this phenomenon. Building on lessons from the Illuminating Hidden Harvests initiative, we identify systemic changes and specific indicators needed to fill these gaps. This requires multiple data streams, many of which come from outside fisheries agencies, e.g., government statistical or census organizations, sourced from responsible agencies across multiple areas—economy and environment, governance and support services, and health and nutrition. Closing gender data gaps requires making the policy case and working across agencies to create an enabling institutional environment. Only then can data reflect and respond to the lives of the ~ 500 million people who depend on small-scale fisheries.

AB - Gender equality is a ubiquitous national goal, yet sectoral gender data gaps to support this goal persist. These gaps are both structural and sexist, concealing women’s contributions and impeding actions that would strengthen livelihoods and economic development, food security, and environmental sustainability. The small-scale fisheries sector offers a cogent example of this phenomenon. Building on lessons from the Illuminating Hidden Harvests initiative, we identify systemic changes and specific indicators needed to fill these gaps. This requires multiple data streams, many of which come from outside fisheries agencies, e.g., government statistical or census organizations, sourced from responsible agencies across multiple areas—economy and environment, governance and support services, and health and nutrition. Closing gender data gaps requires making the policy case and working across agencies to create an enabling institutional environment. Only then can data reflect and respond to the lives of the ~ 500 million people who depend on small-scale fisheries.

KW - Data systems

KW - Gender equity

KW - Livelihoods

KW - Small-scale fisheries

KW - Sustainable development

KW - Transformation

U2 - 10.1007/s13280-025-02250-5

DO - 10.1007/s13280-025-02250-5

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105017889476

SN - 0044-7447

JO - Ambio

JF - Ambio

ER -

Designing gender-inclusive data systems in small-scale fisheries

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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